Author: Shawn Smith

COVINGTON—District Attorney Warren Montgomery reports that Gary L. Harris, 57, of Bush, was sentenced Tuesday (March 12) to serve 50 years in prison for killing his estranged girlfriend and burning her body in 2015.

District Judge Raymond Childress sentenced Harris to 40 years in prison on the manslaughter charge and 10 years for obstruction of justice by tampering with evidence. The sentences are to be served consecutively.

Childress also sentenced Harris’s brother, Ray S. Harris, 67, of Bush, Tuesday to five years in prison for accessory after the fact.

The case began unfolding on Sept. 20, 2015, when the victim, Nannette King, 42, was reported missing after she left work and never made it back to the Bogalusa motel where she and her daughter were staying. Three weeks later, King’s badly burned body and car were found in a wooded area near Sun.

Gary Harris, who had lived with the victim many years and had an adult daughter with her, became a prime suspect when the investigation found inconsistencies in his story. His relationship with the victim was volatile, which had resulted in the victim and her daughter moving to Bogalusa.

Investigators believe Gary Harris lured King to the home they once shared to pick up her things and strangled her. Ray Harris ultimately confessed to picking up his brother from a location near where King’s body was found and to helping hide evidence of the crime.

Assistant District Attorney Blake Peters prosecuted the case with assistance from Amanda Gritten, a student practitioner.

COVINGTON—District Attorney Warren Montgomery announces that Victor R. Loraso, 38, an attorney who lives in Covington, pleaded guilty Monday (March 11) to 26 child pornography charges. District Judge Martin Coady sentenced Loraso to a total of 20 years in prison.

Loraso pleaded guilty to four counts of distribution of pornography of children under 13 and one count of distribution of pornography of children under 17. He also pleaded guilty to 13 counts of possession of pornography of children under 13 and 8 counts of possession of child pornography under 17.

The investigation began in Canada in 2017, when police arrested an individual, seized his computer, and determined that he had been exchanging pornography with someone in the United States. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security then turned the investigation over to the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office, which tracked the pornography to a computer owned by Loraso. The computer also revealed online accounts, which Loraso admitted belonged to him, in which he was chatting with pedophiles about the desire to molest children.

The case was investigated by Brian D. Brown, Supervisory Special Agent of the Attorney General’s Investigation Division.

FRANKLINTON—District Attorney Warren Montgomery reports that a Washington Parish jury found Marlon D. Harwell, 58, of Bogalusa, guilty of obscenity Wednesday (Feb. 6) for an incident that occurred outside his apartment last year. Harwell faces from 20 years to life in prison as a multiple offender when he is sentenced May 3.

The Bogalusa Police Department had received numerous complaints from neighbors and parents who had seen Harwell masturbating in public view, while looking at schoolchildren boarding the bus at two bus stops near his apartment. Det. Jeffrey Bergeron periodically drove around the area, but could see Harwell only sitting in an SUV. But on June 26, 2018, Harwell was caught in the act on the back porch of his home about 7:28 a.m., as Bergeron observed from a neighbor’s window. Bergeron immediately placed Harwell under arrest.

A pretrial motion, filed by the state, allowed the introduction of evidence from four of Harwell’s previous convictions: obscenity in 2014, 2004, and 1998, and indecent behavior with juveniles in 1994. Harwell also has a pending case of indecent behavior with a juvenile, in which he is accused of abusing a child.

The jury deliberated a half-hour before finding him guilty of obscenity. Assistant District Attorney David Weilbaecher, Jr., prosecuted the case before District Judge William Burris.

COVINGTON—District Attorney Warren Montgomery announced that Ryan Horak, 21, of Madisonville, pleaded guilty Tuesday (Feb. 5) as charged to 500 counts of possession of pornography involving juveniles under the age of 13.

Horak faces 10 to 40 years in prison without probation, parole, or suspension of sentence. He will be required to register as a sex offender for 25 years after his release.

The investigation began when the Attorney General’s Office was alerted by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that a St. Tammany Parish resident was uploading thousands of images of suspected child pornography to his Dropbox account. Supervisory Special Agent Brian Brown of the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office investigated the case.

Assistant District Attorneys Holly McGinness and Josephine Heller were prepared for trial with witnesses and evidence, when the defendant decided to plead guilty as charged Tuesday, just before the jury panel entered the courtroom. His sentencing hearing will be held in April.

COVINGTON—District Attorney Warren Montgomery reports that a St. Tammany Parish jury found Jason Matthew Magee, 39, of Pearl River, guilty of two counts of first degree murder for shooting his estranged wife and her boyfriend to death in 2017.

The unanimous jury verdicts concluded a weeklong trial before District Judge August Hand, who set Magee’s sentencing date for April 8. Magee faces mandatory life in prison.

Montgomery thanked his team of prosecutors, Assistant District Attorneys Blair Alford and Criminal Division Chief Collin Sims, as well as the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office, for a thorough and comprehensive investigation and presentation of the evidence.

“This is a bittersweet victory because it doesn’t bring back the two young lives that were violently taken away,” Montgomery said. “But we pray that this unanimous verdict helps the victims’ family members heal.”

Magee and his former wife, Jennifer Wallace Magee, a 32-year-old nurse, had been separated for more than a year and were going through a divorce when the crime occurred on June 19, 2017. Jason Magee had spent that afternoon out with their two children, ages 6 and 8, and they were saying goodnight to their mother over the telephone in Magee’s truck when one of them asked to speak to her boyfriend. Magee grew enraged, drove the children to his parents’ home in Pearl River, and then drove a short distance away to Jennifer’s home. Magee kicked his way into the home and, as prosecutors described, executed both victims with “military precision” in one minute and 34 seconds.

The shootings left Jennifer Magee and Donald R. Gros, then a 34-year-old EKG technician, dead of multiple gunshot wounds.

“The defendant decided to take the lives of Jennifer Wallace Magee and Donald Gros for no other reason than he was mad,” Alford said in her opening statements to the jury.

The jury rejected claims by Magee’s lawyers that he was acting in self defense after Gros pointed a gun at him and a scuffle broke out. Alford and Sims presented evidence showing that the 9mm shell casings found at the crime scene matched a partially-empty box found in Jason Magee’s gun cabinet.The gun and Magee’s truck were never found. Crime scene photos also showed no signs of a struggle, including a doll house with all of its miniature pieces still in place next to where Gros fell. A game system remote lay next to his hand.

After the murders, Magee confessed to his stepfather that he had shot his ex-wife. Magee fled, but with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Task Force and the Pearl River Police Department, he was arrested after emerging from the woods.

FRANKLINTON—District Attorney Warren Montgomery reports that a Washington Parish grand jury indicted Lucas Damon Thomas, 36, of Franklinton, on charges of first degree rape of a victim under 13, sexual battery of a victim under 13, second degree rape, and sexual battery.

Thomas is accused of raping and committing sexual battery on a 10-year-old girl between December 1, 2017, and Sept. 9, 2018. He is also is accused of raping and committing sexual battery on a 15-year-old girl between June 1, 2018, and Aug. 31, 2018.

The case was presented to the grand jury by Assistant District Attorney Ysonde Boland.

FRANKLINTON—District Attorney Warren Montgomery announced that Christopher Rashad Dillon, 25, of Franklinton, abruptly pleaded guilty Tuesday (Jan. 29) near the end of his second day of trial for shooting his mother to death and injuring two others, including a Franklinton police officer.

District Judge Scott Gardner sentenced Dillon to a total of 70 years in prison without the benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.

“I’m glad we were able to achieve some measure of closure for the family of the deceased,” Montgomery said of the plea agreement.

On Dec. 19, 2013, Dillon went to a neighbor’s home and shot the man, while attempting to rob him. The gunshot shattered the victim’s right arm and forced him to have to learn how to use his left hand. Dillon then returned to his home two blocks away and shot his mother, Robin Dillon, as he rummaged through her purse. In a statement to a medical official, Dillon said his mother was shot as she grabbed for her purse.

Franklinton Police Department officers arrived at the scene, and Dillon pretended he was going to surrender to them. Instead, he fired a shot, striking Sgt. Chad Dorsett in the forearm. The bullet passed through Dorsett’s arm and was stopped by his bullet-proof vest. Dillon prevented officers from entering the residence by claiming he was holding his mother hostage. Unbeknownst to officers, she already had been shot and lay dying on the floor of her bedroom. She eventually succumbed to her injuries. After about an hour of the standoff, Dillon started a fire in his mother’s bedroom, and crawled through his bedroom window as the trailer home became engulfed in flames. He was arrested by officers on the scene.

The Washington Parish Sheriff’s Office assisted on the scene, and the Louisiana State Police investigated the case, since it involved the shooting of a Franklinton Police officer.

Dillon initially pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity and was judged incompetent to proceed with the process. But an intensive review of his mental status by state mental health professionals later determined that Dillon was exaggerating the extent of his mental illness, and the case was sent back to District Court for trial. Assistant District Attorneys Casey Dieck and David Weilbaecher, Jr., prosecuted the case.

Dillon was sentenced to 40 years in prison for manslaughter, 50 years for two counts of attempted first degree murder, and 49½ years for one count of attempted armed robbery, all of which are to be served at the same time. But consecutive to those sentences, he also was ordered to serve 20 years in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

The surviving victims and a relative of the homicide victim were present in court and supported the terms of the plea and the sentences.

FRANKLINTON—District Attorney Warren Montgomery announced that a Washington Parish grand jury indicted five former deputies with the Washington Parish Sheriff’s Office and 16 inmates Monday (Jan. 28) in connection with a rape and a beating at the parish jail last year.

The following former deputies were charged with malfeasance in office for “intentionally performing any duty lawfully required of him/her in an unlawful manner or by intentionally refusing or failing to perform any duty lawfully required of him/her, as such an officer or employee” between September 4, 2018, and September 5, 2018:

Frank Smith, 22, of Mount Hermon

Elliot Smith, 21, of Mandeville

John Donaldson, 30, of Franklinton

Pamela P. Willis, 48, of Tylertown, Miss.

Another former deputy Austin Rogers, 19, of Franklinton, was also charged with malfeasance in office for a time period between July 26, 2018, and September 5, 2018. Frank Smith and Elliot Smith also were charged with aggravated second degree battery for using a power cord to harm the victim between July 26, 2018, and September 5, 2018.In addition, Frank Smith was charged with second degree battery on the same victim between July 26, 2018, and September 5, 2018.

The following inmates were charged with simple battery for the incident that occurred in the jail between September 4, 2018, and September 5, 2018:

Toby J. Walker, 38, of Bogalusa

Quenterrius K. McGowan, 27, of Angie

Andre D. Lucas, 27, of Bogalusa

Latrevious Lucas, 19, of Bogalusa

Yamarai A. Brumfield, 23, of Bogalusa

Eddie Jackson, 18, of Bogalusa

Ja’Vontay M. Owens, 25, of Bogalusa

Charles E. Ross, 41, of Bogalusa

Deonta L. Lee, 33, of Franklinton

Jackie Spikes, 17, of Angie

Tramale D. Jenkins, 27, of Franklinton

Russell L. Daniels, 25, of Franklinton

Tyreef J. Williams, 19, of Bogalusa

Dakeithan D. Matthews, 23, of Bogalusa

Kevin T. Crutchfield, Jr., 19, of Bogalusa

Walker and another inmate, Samuel E. White, 19, also were charged with first degree rape of another victim during the same incident on or about Sept. 5, 2018.